NOBLESSE OBLIGE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1916, Page 9

NOBLESSE OBLIGE.

FRENCHWOMAN'S PART IN THE WAR. Frenchwomen of noble birth have come out well in the war (says the London Times) t They are, generally speaking, among those for whom pleasure hag ceased and work has become a raison d'etre. The younger women are nursing, the older women are directing in hospitals, ouvroirs, or refuge homes; and the girls of the family arc busy at the work indicated to them by the older generations, for the freedom of the unmarried girl in France is as limiied in work as it is in pleasure. A certain section of well-born Frenchwomen has failed to recognise the call of noblesse oblige, even as a certain number of all classes of women have failed to do what might be expected of theirf, and each one is roundly abused by her neighbour and the public for an embusquee.

In a little book called "The Women or France and the War," by the Comtesse de Courson, a very fair and complete idea of what the nobly-born Frenchwomen have done in the war may be had, and one point in their work stands out well—its anonymity, as far as the Press is concerned. They do not give as largely as our women of the same class, but they give intelligently, and they spare themselves no personal effort in turning their objert to good account. They have very definite ideas of what they intend to do and with whom they /ire going to do it. They work with their own set and do not like to be "yoked to unbelievers." The Church and the aristocracy are generally good friends, and their combined efforts in philanthropy since the war have been of great account. When the war broke out so many thousands of women were thrown out of work that instant relief was necessary, and within a very short time 500 ouvroirs were opened in Paris and the suburbs. Many of these owe their existence to the personal initiative of Frenchwomen whose names are well known :n the history of France. The workwomen got one franc, less than a shilling, for the afternoon, and a good gonter, which is the French for tea, but which does not necessarily mean tea itself, and more often consists of bread and chocolate. Interesting books were read aloud to the workers, hymns were sung, and the Rosary was recited. The /pirit of calmness and endurance which marked the women of the people so splendidly in those first bad days was encouraged and fortified by the attitude of their social superiors.

Other works which owe their existence to the initiative of Frenchwomen of the upper classes are ,the "Ligue des Acheteusses" and the "Ligue des .Touets Francais." The first is to banish German goods from the market by the refusal of all individuals' to buy Germanmade articles in the shops, A few years ago efforts in this direction were made by some aristocratic Frenchwomen who were good patriots, but the success of their efforts was not great, and it needed the war to teach us the danger of Germany as a commercial as well as a military power. The "Ligue des Jouets Francais" was founded by the Baronne de Laumont, who maintains, with perfect right, thai Fmneh toys art prettier than German toys, and so encourages their manufacture and sale The "Bon Gi'le" is largely the work of Society women. It works with the various societies which are making it their aim to reconstruct the civil life of thos; vilbges which have suffered from invasion and helps to provide the furniture for the newiy-bnilt houses. There is also a society which provides clothes Jor the Mow* of fallen officers, and the delicate task of "giving" in tills case needs a noble spirit as well as noble birth to make it possible. In the hospitals the French arH.icrat is playing an important, part. Many women have organised hospitals of their own in Paris which have since become regular French military hospitals, but remain under the direction of the original founder. Others have turned their chateaux into hospitals and personally direct them. The Dowager Duchesse d'Uzes has a hospital at Rambouillet, the Duchc-sse de Rohan had wounded soldiers at Josslyn, the Marquise de Ganay had an ambulance in the country, the Comtesse de Brissac has anotherbut it would be impossible as well as indiscreet to cite a quarter of the women who have given up their homes for the good of the soldiers since the war and who are not in the least weary in their well-doing.

The Comtesse dTTausfonville, who is at .the head of the ladies' committee oi the Secours aux Blesses Militaires, the aristocratic section of the Croix Rouge, is well known for her energy and tact, and it is from that particular section of the Croix' Rouge that some of the best nurses in France have been drawn Delicately-reared women have done menial work cheerfully, and where yon may find two women who have failed you will find two more who have succeeded. It is not exaggeration on either side to say this, but as nearly just as possible, because it needs more thai) good will and courage to make a nurse; ib needs physical strength and experience. One woman said to me only last week that in her hospital she took women who were used to hard work to do it and paid them fur it, on the grounds that delicalelv-reared women risked a breakdown. She herself acknowledged, "After making 10 bed-: I'm ready to fall on the floor and die." To a certain extent this is true, but the class which gave France her 111111= is to-day giving her many good nurses, and in both eases spiritual strength has promoted physical endurance. Mine, do Courson, in "her little book, quotes the case of a French lady who is the daughter, widow, and mother of officers. She has one son hourly exposed to danger at a critical point in the Argonne, she knows that her family property is mined by German fire, and she finds relief in working hard all day and every day at a hospital where she is "ready for anything" and prepared io do the most humble of tasks.